Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

204 results found

Oz, Amos

(Encyclopedia)Oz, Amos, 1939–2018, Israeli writer, b. Jerusalem as Amos Klausner. As a teenager he changed his name to Oz [Heb.,=strength]. A former kibbutz member, Israeli soldier, and schoolteacher, he became o...

Vizcarra, Martín

(Encyclopedia)Vizcarra, Martín (Martín Alberto Vizcarra Cornejo), 1963–, Peruvian political leader. A civil engineer, he worked from 1992 to 2010 in his family's construction business. As a member of the Alianz...

Webster-Ashburton Treaty

(Encyclopedia)Webster-Ashburton Treaty, Aug., 1842, agreement concluded by the United States, represented by Secretary of State Daniel Webster, and Great Britain, represented by Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburto...

Michael, king of Romania

(Encyclopedia)Michael, 1921–2017, king of Romania (1927–30, 1940–47). His father, Prince Carol (later Carol II), renounced his right of succession in 1925, and young Michael ascended the throne under a regenc...

Medford

(Encyclopedia)Medford. 1 City (1990 pop. 57,407), Middlesex co., E Mass., a residential and industrial suburb of Boston, on the Mystic River; settled 1630, inc. as a city 1892. Wax, paper, clothing, and furniture a...

Paton, Alan

(Encyclopedia)Paton, Alan pāˈtən [key], 1903–88, South African novelist. A devoted leader in the struggle to end the oppression of the South African blacks, he served (1935–47) as principal of the Diepkloof ...

Ozu, Yasujiro

(Encyclopedia)Ozu, Yasujiro, 1903–63, Japanese film director. Ozu began working at a Tokyo studio in 1923, became an assistant director in 1926, and directed his first feature in 1927. He made 35 silent films bef...

Borisov, Boiko

(Encyclopedia)Borisov, Boiko boiˈkō bōrēsˈŏf [key], 1959–, Bulgarian political leader, prime minister of Bulgaria (2009–13, 2014–16, 2017–). Trained as a firefighter, he joined the interior ministry i...

aristocracy

(Encyclopedia)aristocracy ărˌĭstŏkˈrəsē [key] [Gr.,=rule by the best], in political science, government by a social elite. In the West the political concept of aristocracy derives from Plato's formulation in...

Lowell, Abbott Lawrence

(Encyclopedia)Lowell, Abbott Lawrence, 1856–1943, American educator, president of Harvard (1909–33), b. Boston, grad. Harvard (B.A., 1877; LL.B., 1880); brother of Percival Lowell and Amy Lowell. He practiced l...

Browse by Subject